From airport drone plots to railway sabotage, Moscow’s alleged covert campaign is raising the stakes for NATO. A wave of suspected Russian sabotage in Europe has moved beyond disruption into “state terrorism,” Michał Broniatowski, TVP World’s director and editor-in-chief, said on the broadcaster’s News in Depth program, arguing that attacks capable of killing civilians require a stronger response from NATO allies. The attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport and last year’s railway sabotage in Poland showed how far the threat had escalated, Broniatowski said. Germany on Tuesday formally accused Russia of orchestrating the August 4 attempted attack at Leipzig/Halle, where an explosives-laden drone was found near Ukrainian cargo aircraft. Moscow denied responsibility. Poland has said that two Ukrainian nationals cooperating with Russian intelligence carried out sabotage on the Warsaw–Lublin railway line in November 2025. “They are cases of state terrorism,” Broniatowski said, pointing to the potential for mass casualties when aircraft or transport infrastructure are targeted. Deterrence without escalation The challenge, he argued, is how to impose meaningful costs without triggering a direct confrontation with Russia. Diplomatic measures such as closing consulates may carry symbolic weight, but Broniatowski said they were unlikely to stop further operations. He said retaliating in kind on Russian territory would risk escalation and was therefore unlikely. Instead, stronger military support for Ukraine could serve as an indirect deterrent by making Moscow’s attacks less effective. The incidents fit a wider pattern. By mid-February, a GLOBSEC–ICCT tally had identified 151 known Russian-linked sabotage incidents in Europe since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Political pressure inside Europe Broniatowski also warned that sabotage may be designed to deepen public anxiety and strengthen political forces skeptical of support for Ukraine, particularly in countries farther from Russia’s borders. For NATO, he said, the question is increasingly how to respond to attacks that remain below the threshold of conventional war while still threatening civilian lives and critical infrastructure. “This is war.”
